Thursday, May 26, 2011

What a difference one week makes...

Although it's rained almost every day, and my yard has now converted to a bog, my container garden is thriving.

I'm definitely going to miss a few of my yearly favorites from my rented garden plots, green beans and squashes in particular, but what I have growing in containers is going so well that I'm ok with it.

My herbs are doing fabulous. They are so easy to grow. You really can't do them wrong. I've been hoping to start drying some but it's been so humid and wet here. I dried some mint a few weeks ago and it took forever.

May be time to invest in a dehydrator or give the oven method a try. I plan on drying a lot of herbs this year and making my own herb blends for winter cooking.

This year I expanded my herb pots and have planted quite a variety:

Sweet & Genovese Basil (sweet in container above, genovese is in one of my flower beds)

Savory (new)

Tarragon (new)

Anise Hysop (new)

Rosemary

Lemon Balm (in flowerbed)

Peppermint - two varieties (in flowerbed and everywhere else it decides to spread)

Oregano

Marjoram

Italian Flat Leaf Parsley

Thyme - 3 varieties

Dill

Sage

Stevia

Lemon Grass

1-San Marzano, 2 Roma Tomato

Tomatoes are growing well. Last year I did not have much luck with them in containers. Major issues with blossom end rot. Hopefully this year will not repeat.

My hanging tomato plant is doing well...

hanging tomato planter, San Marzano Tomato

Snow peas

pickling cucumbers

And today I transplanted my hardened off pickling cucumbers I grew from seed. Last year I did not have much luck with them in containers but this year I got them in much earlier and I decided to give the Miracle Gro Organic a shot again, even though I don't like how chunky it is. I'm also concerned it had an off smell. I guess we'll see. If these fail, I'm early enough I can run and buy some plants.

8 comments:

Lookin' great! Our home garden is nice, I'm dreading the farm trip tomorrow. You're doing fantastic with containers. I often have problems with my potted plants drying out...could be 'cause I forget to water though :-S

i was by there the other day, i can just see the weeds starting in everyone's gardens. i don't miss that. weeding containers is much easier! LOL once the heat of summer gets here it gets tough. last year i had to water 2x a day for some plants

Everything looks very happy. :-) And I'm glad you have so many herbs going. (Try the Anise Hyssop steeped in hot water for a hugely flavorful tisane. Also, tear AH leaves into a bowl of sliced peaches and blueberries. BEST thing evar!)

I just stumbled upon the AH at a local nursery, never saw it there before so I grabbed it. I can't stop eating the leaves. I love aniseed. I was going to ask you what else I could do with it. I'm going to try it in some iced tea too. thanks for the suggestions, i can't wait to try them!

You can *also* make syrup and/or jelly from it. Both yummy. (A few years ago I went crazy with the herbal syrups - mint, AH, lemon verbena, rose geranium, cinnamon basil.... And then all the crazy jelly combos: grape juice with thyme, lemon verbena with lemonade, apple mint with apple juice, rose geranium with white grape juice, basil with apple juice, etc...! I'm not sure anyone else enjoyed them quite as much as me - but I certainly did! :-)

This morning I was outside and looked at all that we (hus and I) have planted. The ochroes and tomatoes the papayas and peppers, spinach and collards and all the herbs. It's really a joy to grow your own food.the wire frame you have in your tomato pot is that something you made? Think I need that for my pot tomatoes.

Greta you can grow papayas!! oh I forgot how tropical it was where you live. lucky girl! I purchased the tomato cage. I used wood stakes for years but they don't last more than one or two seasons. I've had these for years, I like them so I don't have to tie my plants up to stakes. total laziness. LOL